Obituary

Elliott R. Barker III

Tue, 06/04/2019 - 10:15am

Elliott R. Barker III, 87, of Boothbay Harbor, Maine died peacefully at St. Andrews Village on May 24, 2019.

A native of Maine, he was born in Waterville on April 7, 1932 and graduated from Waterville High School and the University of Maine at Orono with a degree in chemical engineering.

He started his career at Albany Felt Co. in Albany, New York, subsequently working at Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Co. in Richmond, Virginia.

In 1963, he and his brother joined their father at Deerfield Plastics Co. in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, a polyethylene film manufacturing company founded by his grandfather, father and uncle. Following his retirement from Deerfield, Elliott became a real estate tax assessor for the Massachusetts towns of Amherst, Greenfield, and Carlisle. Amherst was his home for 35 years.

As a philanthropist, Elliott established the Elliott R. Barker III Professorship in Chemical Engineering for the University of Maine Foundation. He held many community board positions throughout his life including, most recently, St. Andrews Hospital and the Congregational Church, both of Boothbay Harbor.

As a lover of classical music and concert goer, he avidly supported many local music groups, wherever he lived, and, especially in Maine, the Midcoast Symphony and the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and he gave to many organizations through the Maine Community Foundation.

Elliott and his wife, Jean, returned to Maine in 1998, when they purchased a home on Southport Island. A passionate boater, Elliott spent his retirement years tending and piloting his sailing and power boats from Ebenecook Harbor, Southport. In their 80th year, they moved to St. Andrews Village, Boothbay Harbor. Home maintenance was always very important, but sailing, skiing, gardening and family pets were the joys of his life.

Elliott was predeceased by his parents, Elliott R. Barker Jr. and Muriel Peterson Barker, and by his brother, Charles P. Barker of South Deerfield, Massachusetts and East Boothbay, Maine.

He is survived by Jean Cressy Barker, his wife of 62 years; daughters, Sue of Freeport, Maine and, Mary of New Canaan, Connecticut; grandson, Brent of Freeport, Maine; granddaughter, Eve of Ashville, North Carolina; sister-in-law, Elizabeth (Betty) Barker of South Deerfield, Massachusetts; and niece, Ann of Whately, Massachusetts.

A celebration of Elliott's life will be held Saturday, June 15 at 2 p.m. at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor. Arrangements are available at www.hallfuneralhomes.com.

If desired, donations in his memory may be made to Midcoast Symphony, P.O. Box 86, Brunswick, ME 04011; Lincoln Health/Tufts Medical Student Program, Development Office, 35 Miles St., Damariscotta, ME 04543; Maine Community Foundation, 245 Main St., Ellsworth, ME 04605.